With only three games left in Santa Clara Valley Athletic League regular season, the Paly boys’ soccer team (7-4-7 overall, 4-2-4 league), tied Los Altos High School, 1-1, on Thursday at Paly.
“It was both an inspiring and probably the toughest tie or loss of the season,” head coach Donald Briggs said. “I felt bad for the boys who put out a great effort and could easily have come away with a win. I felt we really deserved the win but we ended with a tie that felt more like a loss.”
Due to the five-day break that began on Thursday, the absence of many players hurt the team.
“I think three players were gone, one had mock trial, and I was injured,” said sophomore center back Garrett Van Zyll.
Twenty-five minutes into the first half, Paly forward Zac Hummel scored the first goal of the match after a throw-in from senior captain midfielder Jenner Fox.
Fouls and free kicks filled the rest of the first half as the Vikings pushed toward the Los Altos goal. Los Altos received one yellow card and the ball mostly stayed in the Eagles’ territory, but Paly was not rewarded with any further scores.
In the 60th minute, Paly players lined up to protect their goal from a corner kick. Paly defenders successfully blocked the ball and it flew out-of-bounds, resulting in a throw-in by Los Altos from the opposite side of the field. Los Altos headed the ball into the goal past sophomore forward Kris Hoglund, who was in goal as an emergency back-up keeper due to the absence of both senior Scott Alexander and junior Austin Shiau.
According to Briggs, Hoglund is one of two field players on the team that has some experience as keeper. Despite not having played keeper since eighth grade, Hoglund saved more than six shots while letting in only one shot.
“He is one of the most athletic players on the team and is a lacrosse player which requires very good hand-eye coordination, similar to a baseball player,” Briggs said. “He did a fantastic job and did not look uncomfortable. He looked like a natural.”
Since the start of SCVAL play, Hoglund has emerged as the leading scorer for the team and in the top 10 of league scorers.
“So we took one of our best scorers and put him in the goal,” Briggs said. “The trade-off was worth it though, as he did a fine job and kept the leagues’ number one scorer [Juan Morales] scoreless.”
The game ended with the score remaining tied despite a header attempt by Fox and two attempts by senior forward Ethan Plant, one being a penalty kick that would have won the game.
The Vikings fought off the Eagles’ attempt to score with a strong defensive effort. Junior midfielder Brandon Nguyen stuck like glue to the Los Altos junior forward Juan Morales, preventing Morales from scoring and limiting his touches on the ball.
“Kudos to Brandon Nguyen who came up to the varsity last week and ‘man-marked’ their leading scorer and frustrated him every time he tried to win the ball,” Briggs said.
Overall, the Vikings out-shot the Eagles and controlled the speed of the play while the Eagles maintained a strong defense and attempted to spark a counter attack.
“I just feel that it is unlucky that we did not come out with a victory,” Nguyen said. “It doesn’t matter how much you dominate the other team, it is all about putting the ball in the back of the net.”
The boys will play the Mountain View Spartans at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 16, at Mountain View High School.The last league game of the season will be a home game against the Milpitas Trojans at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 23.